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SOTA c37s02
Text That night, Scrivener Blooms, Twilight Sparkle, and Luna Brynhild sat with Celestia, Spike, and Discombobulation at a cozy little tablet they had set up on one of the larger balconies. The stars glimmered peacefully above, and Twilight blushed as she looked up and saw the message of congratulations that Starry Night had woven into the velvet ceiling of darkness for her. It made her feel warm, and accepted, and... not special, but normal. And considering her life, that feeling was one of the emotions she cherished the very most. Discombobulation only had a patch over his shoulder: there was no possible way his prosthetic arm could be repaired, although they'd be bringing what pieces they could salvage across the Bifrost, just in case Cowlick could do anything with them. Spike had a few bandages around his arms, but otherwise looked none the worse for wear, smiling warmly as he rose a glass of whiskey to them in a toast. “I know you're gonna hear this a lot, Twilight, but... congratulations. Makes me jealous, as a matter of fact... the chance of me and Rarity managing to have kids is... well...” He laughed and shrugged, while Celestia only shook her head, then gave Twilight her own warm, honest smile as she added softly: “It's incredible. I never imagined this could happen, Twilight Sparkle... but if anyone deserves a miracle, it's you. Although I think Scrivener has had more than his share of luck, to be honest.” “I'll say.” Scrivener laughed despite himself, nodding and smiling embarrassedly back before he shrugged a little. “But if anything ,it helps me believe that... no matter how bad things get, there'll always be something to balance things out. I'm just worried that I'm getting all this luck in this life because of the hell I'll be going to when I die.” “Oh, wonderful thought Scrivy. Such a wonderful thought.” Luna said wryly, as Twilight smiled and shook her head with an entertained look at the stallion. Then the sapphire mare winked over at Celestia, adding playfully: “And I think thou art simply jealous. I look at thee and think to myself all too often, 'why, with the way Celestia stares at us so, I think she desires to act out that wretched story and be First Concubine after all!'” “Hey, hey, stop stealing my story. I plagiarized it off the Norns first.” Discombobulation said mildly, looking pointedly at the two, and Scrivener snorted in amusement before the Draconequus reached up and let his hand rest on Celestia's shoulder, and she smiled softly as she looked over at him. “But yes. Twilight Sparkle... congratulations on continuing to be a deviant. I want you to know that when they come to take your foal into foster care, it certainly won't be me who made the call. I rather enjoy all the confusion and madness and moral indignation your little relationship causes.” “Nothing about my relationship is 'little,' Bob.” Luna replied pompously, and Discombobulation gave her a mild look before the sapphire mare grinned widely and added easily: “And let them rage and cry and bemoan howsoever they please, it matters not to me! I think of it as this: I will soon get to experience being a proud mother again, and all without the messy, unpleasant, accursed experience of childbirth!” She paused, then grumbled and looked moodily over at Twilight Sparkle, who blushed a little. “But then again, I suppose thou shall be fine in any event, accursed creature. After all, 'tis not like thou will mind feeling as if a great, fat dragon is attempting to squeeze itself out of the confines of thy treasure cave.” Scrivener dropped his head on the table with a thunk as Twilight blushed red and Spike covered his earfins with a groan. Discombobulation only continued to smile pleasantly even as Celestia shook her head slowly, as he remarked: “It's funny. I can tell by everyone else's reaction that you went and said something naughty, Scrivener Blooms, but I happened to have installed this handy little V-chip in my brain. Now I can't hear any bad words, bad metaphors, or bad political candidates at all. As long as it doesn't malfunction, and I don't start talking like an angsty ten year old with a vocabulary of mostly poo-jokes, it should make life much easier to bear.” Luna huffed at this, then Celestia asked quickly: “So, when would you like to return home, Luna? Personally, I'd prefer to stay here a few more days, just to ensure that Kismet was telling the full truth... but since you seem to trust him, and so far, things have been so peaceful...” Luna shifted back and forth, then softened as she looked over at Twilight Sparkle, smiling a little at her as she reached up and touched her shoulder gently. “I suppose that depends, Celestia. Should we summon the Bifrost, or send up the signal to ask for a portal?” Celestia hesitated, then she looked up and murmured softly: “Well, if we wait a few more days for the Bifrost to regenerate, we can use that time to ensure Thesis has definitely left this plane. We can also try and find his base of operations, see if he's left anything behind we can perhaps use to understand what exactly he's working on... what requires all the... the energy he's been using up.” “Thou means the lives he is continuing to sacrifice.” Luna muttered darkly, and she shivered a bit before looking moodily down. “Aye, but that is worrisome. If he is making ponies into living batteries that last for so short a time he must constantly kidnap ponies... no, creating that concentrated corruption cannot be it, or at least not alone. And the machinery we saw in his fortress outside Appleloosa... 'twas vast. It would have been a terrible and beautiful dream to Cowlick... or perhaps just beautiful, I know not machines.” Scrivener only nodded a little, as Twilight sipped slowly at her own glass of cola before the stallion said softly: “I think Luna and I are going to lean towards the Bifrost then... you know, assuming they'll put up with our company for a little longer here.” “I think they will. They seem like good ponies... protective, definitely, but it sounds like this Crystal Kingdom has gone through a lot.” Spike said softly, and then he picked up the bottle of whiskey, refilling his glass before smiling and refilling Celestia's as well when she tapped the table beside the cup. She smiled back to the dragon, thanking him before turning her eyes to Luna and Scrivener. “Then if we're going to stay, I think I'll also talk to Princess Celestia and Princess Night about the Crystal Heart. If they or Princess Cadence can tell me anything more about it, Spike and I might be able to put something together that can generate a similar effect, after all.” “Oh, I don't know about that. I'm no Greece or Cowlick.” Spike laughed, but he looked warmly over at the mare and nodded all the same, adding softly: “But I'll definitely do my very best, Celestia.” “You'll always be the Number One Assistant, Spike. Mine and every other pony's who needs your help.” Twilight said softly, and Spike blushed a little as he rubbed lamely at his face, but he was smiling despite himself before the Lich sat back and rubbed her stomach slowly, gazing down at herself softly. “But it's amazing how much things change, and how fast. We live in an entirely different world... and it's been... how many years?” “Thirty, forty... maybe more, Twilight. I don't know if that's all that fast at all... even if we did, you know, move to a different world and everything.” Scrivener remarked, and Twilight gave him a quietly-amused look before the stallion sipped at his own cup of cola, then he glanced over his shoulder curiously as Celestia looked up with interest. Princess Celestia and Starlit Night smiled as they both stepped into the open doorway, trading a look before the golden-caped mare nodded, and the dark-coated winged unicorn stepped forwards and asked kindly: “May we join you? Don't worry, we brought our own table. But my sister and I and a few others would... like to spend some time with you, and celebrate a little.” The six from another layer traded looks, then Luna Brynhild nodded firmly, smiling over her shoulder. “Most definitely. And the more the merrier, let it be known! I have never been one to deny good company, after all, even if Freya was always a little stuffy.” She winked over at her older sibling, who only laughed and shook her head before Discord popped into being nearby, winking and saying cheerfully: “Good, because you know what they say. For every one pony you see there's fifty more of your icky kind crawling all over the place.” He snapped his fingers, and two more round tables appeared on either side of the ponies with matching chairs, and the Draconequus immediately spun one of these around and dropped down in it, leaning over the back towards Discombobulation and remarking mildly: “You're pretty good, puppy, I gotta give you that. But you know, since everything you ever learned came from me, every girl you get, every victory you savor, every time you get that nice little feeling of happiness when you wake up in the morning properly rested... yeah, that's all my doing. Which means I get ninety percent of the credit for it, and you can have... nine percent. Because that last one percent is always complete random luck.” “Wow, Discord, you're such a philosopher.” Discombobulation said dryly, and then he glanced up as Princess Celestia and Starlit Night both strode out onto the balcony, with Cadence, Shining Armor, and Twilight and her five friends in tow. “Then again, they do say to always forgive your enemies. Nothing else annoys them so much.” Discord grunted at this, then he added mildly: “Plus no one tries to hold you responsible or turn you to stone when they end up dead. That's also a bonus. Not that I'm speaking from experience here or anything, of course, all just very thoughtful and rhetorical.” Discombobulation smiled wryly despite himself as the Twilight Sparkle of this layer and her five friends sat at one table, while the Princesses and Shining Armor sat at the other with Discord, smiling. Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight looked back and forth in interest as Freya only smiled and Spike awkwardly sipped at his whiskey, before all eyes turned to the table that the younger – or at least younger-seeming – ponies sat at when a throat cleared loudly. Rainbow Dash straightened, her head wrapped in bandages and padding as she tapped a hoof against the tabletop a few times, before she looked lamely up with her magenta eyes and said finally: “So I'm uh... sorry for kind of being a jerk and everything. You guys... you guys are cool. Thanks for... well... saving us.” Scrivener only smiled, but Luna slammed a hoof against the table in front of her with a wide grin, nodding firmly. “Precisely, we did! And we did so with grace, and dignity, and honor! We conquered and smote the enemy, we-” “Princess Starlit Night did most of the work, really. You should thank her. We're only glad we were able to help hold off the attack.” Celestia Freya said courteously, and Luna huffed and sulked, glowering over at the ivory mare. “And you were all brave.” There were a few murmurs from the ponies, before Pinkie Pie suddenly glanced up and smiled as she held up a hoof, saying firmly: “Well, we're all supposed to be celebrating winning, right? So I think we should just remember that everyone helped, and everyone should be happy about that! Plus there's a baby on the way, and what's more exciting and happier than a new friend?” There were a few smiles at this, and Rainbow Dash perked up a little, but Rarity looked at the Pegasus pointedly as she opened her mouth, and instead the blue mare only huffed as the unicorn Twilight asked awkwardly: “I mean... are you... I never really saw myself as a mother and well... from the little I've studied so far about your... condition...” “This... well, in a sense, this won't be the first foal I've had the honor of taking care of, being a mother to.” Twilight replied softly, smiling over at the other mare: this version of her that looked so much younger, and gentler, and simply seemed... purer. “But of course I'm scared, for a lot of reasons, except... how happy I am, how excited I am, it all really outweighs my worries and my anxieties. At least right now.” “Then let us help reassure our friend Morgan, and celebrate this new beginning.” Starlit Night said firmly, raising a hoof, and Luna smiled warmly at the way everyone turned to look at her... and there was no fear, no anxiety, no worries any longer, no matter what the Princess looked like, as she smiled warmly across at Luna. “And with it, let us celebrate our own triumphs, and how we have all come together and learned to better trust in one another. To victory, and new friends!” It was a shout that was echoed by the others, and Luna laughed and shook her head with a warm smile: she already knew that the toast would be repeated many times before the end of the night, and it would never grow any less wonderful to her ears. Top ↑